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Kutná Hora

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Kutná Hora ( Czech pronunciation: [ˈkutnaː ˈɦora] ; German : Kuttenberg ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic . It has about 22,000 inhabitants. The centre of Kutná Hora, including the Sedlec Abbey and its ossuary , was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 because of its outstanding architecture and its influence on subsequent architectural developments in other Central European city centres. Since 1961, the town centre is also protected by law as an urban monument reservation , the fourth largest in the country.

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24-589: The town is made up of twelve administrative areas and villages: The name of the town was derived from the eponymous mountain ( hora = 'mountain'). According to legends, the name of the mountain was derived from the monks' cowls (the Kutten ). It is more likely that it derived from the Middle High German word kutte ('pit'). The name can also be derived from the Czech words kutit ('to work') or kutat ('to mine'), but

48-545: A hooded cloak. The cowl is generally worn in conformity with the color of the monk's tunic ; other groups which follow the Rule of St. Benedict , e.g., the Camaldolese wearing white. (The Camaldolese of Monte Corona, however, always wear a cloak instead of a cowl.) Today, cowls are primarily worn by Catholic and Anglican monks when participating in liturgical services. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

72-624: A new Pope to regain the German kingship after his deposition by Rupert of the Palatinate nine years before. However, King Rupert, relying on the support of Pope Gregory XII and the Prague archbishop Zbyněk Zajíc of Hazmburk , pressured German teachers and students not to side with his Bohemian rival. A delegation led by Jerome of Prague went to Wenceslaus' court staying at the royal city of Kutná Hora (according to other sources at Točník Castle ), where

96-483: A publication now in the public domain :  Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Cowl". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company. Decree of Kutn%C3%A1 Hora The Decree of Kutná Hora ( Czech : Dekret Kutnohorský ) or Decree of Kuttenberg ( German : Kuttenberger Dekret ) was issued on 18 January 1409 in Kutná Hora ( Kuttenberg ), Bohemia , by King Wenceslaus IV to give members of

120-672: Is the site of the Gothic Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist and the famous Sedlec Ossuary . It is estimated that the ossuary is decorated with bones of more than 40,000 skeletons. Among the most important buildings in the town are the Gothic , five-naved St. Barbara's Church , begun in 1388, and the Italian Court , formerly a royal residence and mint, which was built at

144-595: The Bohemian nation a decisive voice in the affairs of the Charles University in Prague . Since the university was founded by King Charles IV in 1348, the studium generale was divided among Bohemian (including German -speaking inhabitants), Bavarian , Saxon , and Polish "nations". From 1403 onwards, the religious Lollard movement and the doctrines of the Oxford theologian John Wycliffe led to controversy at

168-617: The Sedlec Monastery was brought from the Imperial immediate Cistercian Waldsassen Abbey in Bavaria , close to the border with Bohemia. By 1260, German miners began to mine for silver in the mountain region, which they named Kuttenberg, and which was part of the monastery property. From the 13th to 16th centuries, the town competed with Prague economically, culturally, and politically. Under Abbot Heinrich Heidenreich  [ de ] ,

192-558: The Czech origin of the name is less likely. Kutná Hora is located about 52 kilometres (32 mi) east of Prague . The eastern part of the municipal territory lies in a flat agricultural landscape of the Central Elbe Table lowland. The western part lies in the Upper Sázava Hills and includes the highest point of Kutná Hora, the hill Malý Kuklík at 359 m (1,178 ft) above sea level. The Vrchlice Stream flows through

216-469: The Czech role-playing game Kingdom Come: Deliverance II . Cowl A cowl is an item of clothing consisting of a long, hooded garment with wide sleeves, often worn by monks. It was developed during the Early Middle Ages . The term may have originally referred to the hooded portion of a cloak , though contemporary usage refers to an entire closed garment. A cowl is traditionally bestowed upon

240-567: The Kaňk hill. The earliest traces of silver have been found dating back to the 10th century, when Bohemia already had been in the crossroads of long-distance trade for many centuries. Silver dinars have been discovered belonging to the period between 982 and 995 in the settlement of Malín, which is now a part of Kutná Hora. The town began in 1142 with the settlement of Sedlec Abbey , the first Cistercian monastery in Bohemia . The Cistercian order based in

264-621: The Prague University. The Bohemian reformers around Jan Hus wanted to teach this new doctrine, but most German masters and professors voted against the new " heretic " thinking. In anticipation of the Council of Pisa , the three "foreign" nations (Poland, Bavaria and Saxony) at the university opposed the request of Wenceslaus to take a neutral attitude between the two rival popes in the Western Schism . Wenceslaus himself hoped for support of

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288-580: The elections to the faculty of Prague University as against one for the three other nations. In 1420, Sigismund made the town the base for his unsuccessful attack on the Taborites during the Hussite Wars, leading to the Battle of Kutná Hora . Kutná Hora was taken by Jan Žižka , and after a temporary reconciliation of the warring parties was burned by the imperial troops in 1422, to prevent its falling again into

312-460: The end of the 13th century. The Gothic Stone House, which since 1902 has served as a museum of silver, contains one of the richest archives in the country. The Gothic Church of Saint James the Great, with its 86 m (282 ft) tower, is another prominent building. Other sights include: Kutná Hora is twinned with: A recreation of the town as it existed in 1403 will be prominently featured in

336-504: The hands of the Taborites. Žižka nonetheless took the place, and under Bohemian auspices it awoke to a new period of prosperity. Along with the rest of Bohemia, Kuttenberg (Kutná Hora) passed to the Habsburg monarchy of Austria in 1526. In 1546, the richest mine was severely flooded. In the insurrection of Bohemia against Ferdinand I the town lost all its privileges. Repeated visitations of

360-399: The hooded portion of a cloak . In contemporary usage, however, it is distinguished from a cloak or cape ( cappa ) by the fact that it refers to an entire closed garment consisting of a long, hooded garment with wide sleeves. The cowl is traditionally bestowed upon the monk at the time of making solemn, or lifetime, profession . Prior to their solemn vows , the monks still in training wear

384-534: The king promised to change the constitution of the university. On 18 January 1409, he had the statutes amended: with his decree, he gave the Bohemian nation three votes and one single vote to the other three nations combined. Shortly after that, Hus himself became rector of the university, succeeding Johannes Hoffmann von Schweidnitz . As another result of the Decree of Kutná Hora, numerous German academics (about 80 percent of

408-482: The monk at the time of making solemn, or lifetime, profession . Today, it is worn primarily by most Catholic and Anglican monks when participating in liturgical services. Developed during the Early Middle Ages , the cowl became the formal garment for those in monastic life. Both St. Jerome and John Cassian refer to it as part of a monk's dress. In modern times, it is worn over the habit during liturgical services. Originally, cowl may have referred simply to

432-473: The operation of mines. Prague groschen were minted between 1300 and 1547/48. In December 1402, the town was sacked by King Sigismund after the imprisonment of Wenceslaus IV . It was heavily defended by its residents. After several bloody skirmishes, Sigismund prevailed and forced the defenders to march to Kolín and kneel in subjugation. Although Sigismund was successful in his conquest, his hetman Markvart of Úlice died after being struck by an arrow during

456-541: The plague and the horrors of the Thirty Years' War completed its ruin. Half-hearted attempts after the peace to repair the ruined mines failed; the town became impoverished, and in 1770 was devastated by fire. The mines were abandoned at the end of the 18th century. In May 1742 during the First Silesian War , a Prussian force under Frederick the Great stopped in the town prior to the Battle of Chotusitz . Bohemia

480-506: The siege on 27 December. The town developed with great rapidity, and at the outbreak of the Hussite Wars in 1419 was the second most important town in Bohemia after Prague , having become the favourite residence of several Bohemian kings. It was here that, on 18 January 1409, Wenceslaus IV signed the famous Decree of Kutná Hora , by which the Czech university nation was given three votes in

504-610: The teaching staff) and their students left the university. This exodus resulted in the foundation of the University of Leipzig in the Margravate of Meissen , among others, and led to a considerable isolation of the Prague university. In 1417 the university officially adopted the Hussite confession and henceforth, Utraquist scholars taught and studied here. The rising influence of this doctrine and

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528-427: The territory greatly advanced due to the silver mines which gained importance during the economic boom of the 13th century. In 1300, King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia issued the new royal mining code Ius regale montanorum  [ cs ] (also known as Constitutiones Iuris Metallici Wenceslai II ). This was a legal document that specified all administrative as well as technical terms and conditions necessary for

552-606: The town. Archaeological finds show that the area around the Kaňk hill was populated by Celts during the Hallstatt and La Tène periods. At the Celtic settlement site between Libenice and Kaňk, numerous ceramic finds from the 5th–1st century BC were discovered in 1981. One of the most important finds is a smelting furnace with 10 kg of slag from the 2nd–1st century BC with traces of pyrrhotine , chalcopyrite , sphalerite and copper , which also testify to early underground mining in

576-525: Was a crownland of the Austrian Empire in 1806, and remained controlled by the Austrian monarchy after the compromise of 1867 . Until 1918, the town was the capital of the district of the same name, one of the 94 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Bohemia . Together with the rest of Bohemia, the town became part of the newly founded Czechoslovakia after World War I and the collapse of Austria-Hungary. Sedlec

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